Sand Marble Rally 2016 - Race 12
The twelfth and final race of the 2016 Sand Marble Rally was held at Klimduin Brechtdorp. Race Report After the start, El Capitan took the lead ahead of Marbly McMarbleface, Blue Smoke, Fantasy and Summer Sky. Already running in last place after a poor getaway, Pollo Loco bumped against championship contender Big Pearl and rolled to a complete stop. Then another championship contender Dragon's Egg (also running in the bottom three) came to a halt and collected Big Pearl. Both were eventually able to get going again, but all their hopes of overhauling the points leader Ghost Plasma for the championship already evaporated. Ghost Plasma was not destined to claim the championship in a glorious way however as he found himself mired in mid-pack. After pressuring El Capitan for the lead, Marbly McMarbleface picked a wrong line through a hairpin and fell back to sixth. Rastafarian got past not only him but also Summer Sky, advancing him to fourth. Through another hairpin Marbly McMarbleface shot back into third, with Summer Sky also moving back ahead of Fantasy and Rastafarian into fourth. Summer Sky then passed Marbly McMarbleface to put herself in direct hunt for the win. Through a set of sharp esses, El Capitan lost the lead for the first time as he fell to third and eventually to sixth. Also coming through the same section, Super Turtle flew off the course having been running in around seventh place. Fantasy managed to move up into third behind Marble McMarbleface and new leader Blue Smoke. Soon after, H2 Blue (also running somewhere around seventh position) got stuck in a wall after a bump against El Capitan. Summer Sky briefly took third from Fantasy, only to get re-passed. Fantasy then lost ground when he was the only one among the leaders who didn't have enough momentum to jump over a wall, but was able to regain some time with a good run through the sections immediately after. Summer Sky advanced into third as Marbly McMarbleface slotted into the lead after overtaking Blue Smoke. Rastafarian and El Capitan both went up a wall while fighting with Fantasy over fourth; Rastafarian got stuck on top of it while El Capitan was very lucky to keep going. On a following straight, Summer Sky had higher speed and flew past Blue Smoke to take second. Fantasy was then able to take away third from Blue Smoke in a split. El Capitan was still in fifth and hounding the pair of them despite his earlier off. He soon had his second near-DNF of the race when he got stuck on the course, but got rolling again after being bumped by sixth-placed Silver Bolt. Ironically though, not even five seconds later Silver Bolt ended up stuck in a wall and was unable to continue. With less than one-quarter of the way remaining, Summer Sky moved into the lead ahead of Marbly McMarbleface. Down the final long straightaway with a pole at the end of it that marbles needed to get around, Marbly McMarbleface made multiple attempts to take the lead back, but was unable to do so and Summer Sky claimed the victory. After an eventful race where he led early and nearly DNF'd twice, El Capitan passed both Blue Smoke and Fantasy coming down that very straightaway to round out the podium in third. Blue Smoke and Fantasy were thus resigned to fourth and fifth respectively, with The Flash coming home in sixth. Ghost Plasma finished seventh after patiently picking his way through the mid-pack for the entire race distance and clinched the inaugural Sand Marble Rally championship. Tarantula was eighth, Slimer ninth and resurgent Dragon's Egg recovered to round out the top ten after his initial stoppage. Wisp of Darkness and Starman were eleventh and twelfth, ahead of Big Pearl in thirteenth who would clinch the runner-up spot by just two points over Dragon's Egg. Glassy and Comet were the final running marbles in fourteenth and fifteenth. Classification *Note: **P1–P7 is on the front row **P8–P13 is on the second row **P14–P20 is on the back row Championship standings after the race Bold text indicates the 2016 Sand Marble Rally champion Category:Sand Marble Rally Category:Sand Marble Rally 2016